Beyonce Knowles rocked the Shanghai Grand Stage on Nov 5, with 10 silvery hot costumes and 32 songs, including hits Crazy in Love and Baby Boy.

Soon after the American R&B mega-star's concert, Linkin Park, a group of rap-rock titans with worldwide sales of 45 million, played in Shanghai to crowd of 25,000.

A month earlier in Beijing, Karen O of the New York rock band the Yeah Yeah Yeahs strode onstage at the Modern Sky Festival looking wild and futuristic in her cape of silver wings and blue-and-green striped tights.

Shouting to 10,000 mud-soaked fans who shouted her lyrics right back at her, she thanked them in halting Mandarin: "Xie xie ni!" Just a couple of days earlier the Brooklyn rapper Talib Kweli was at one of the capital's gleaming new clubs.

They are among the latest in a growing tide of Western acts hoping to explore the vast new entertainment market of China. So what do we have to look forward to this year?

Let's begin with Bjork.

More than a decade after her first visit to Beijing in 1996, Bjork will return to China with a new album, Volta. The Icelandic pop star will hold a concert at Shanghai's International Gymnastics Center on March 2 with an all-female brass band. Ticket information is already available on China's ticketing websites. Prices range from 300 to 1,600 yuan ($40 to $210).

Two other big Western acts will perform at the same venue in March: Grammy-nominated singer Harry Connick Jr, on March 9; and US pop rock band Maroon 5, on March 22.

March will also see one of the world's most popular groups, Backstreet Boys, perform in China as part of the worldwide Unbreakable tour. The group's shows in Nanjing on March 4, and Hangzhou on March 6, represent the first time that a mainstream Western pop group has performed in either city.

Celine Dion will play her first concert in China this April. File photos

One of the world's best-selling female artists, Canadian singer Celine Dion will play her first concert in China this April and has submitted an entry for the Beijing Olympics theme song competition.

Dion's Shanghai and Beijing shows, to be held respectively on April 11 and 13, are part of her upcoming Taking Chances World Tour 2008, which starts in South Africa in February.

"I am excited about my first ever Chinese mainland concerts in April," Dion said via video link at a press conference. "I can't wait to see everyone in China."

Dion's repertoire will include her hits My Heart will Go On and The Power of Love. Emma Entertainment CEO Jonathan Krane says the concert will also be a celebration of the upcoming Shanghai 2010 World Expo.

For the Western music industry, China is a mix of new challenges and familiar frustrations. But despite existing obstacles, the broad commercial potential makes the country an irresistible target.

Five years ago, a concert by Kenny G was big news. Now Chinese cities frequently turn up on touring itineraries. Last year Christina Aguilera, Eric Clapton, Nine Inch Nails, Avril Lavigne and Sonic Youth all played in China.

Linkin Park has already toured in Southeast Asia and the band reportedly grossed $750,000 from its single concert in China. It's little wonder then, that the group has decided to return this year with shows planned for Shanghai and Beijing.